A mighty male lion in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe.
His lioness.
They were breath taking and one of the highlights of the visit to Ruckomechi Camp.
I've a friend whose son loves, loves, loves animals. He always asks for videos of anything I see in Africa. Thus far, I've videoed everything from lizards in Senegal to elephants in Zimbabwe.
And now! My chance to video lions for him, beautiful lions. He'd be so stoked. I was so stoked.
And then....we soon rapidly learned that the video I made may not be appropriate for a 4 year old.
I defer to his mom, but here's what happened (thanks for warning us, safari guide!):
Apparently this pair had been mating for just under a week and during the day would mate approximately every 15 minutes for about a minute. It was insane. And, how to say it? Progressively more rough each time. And loud. Very loud. I felt his roar after each session reverberate through me.
And to be honest, while he's here roaring, she never quite appeared to have enjoyed any of it.
Mating males are more aggressive than normal and very territorial.
Which makes it easy to understand why our guides are always armed on safaris in Zimbabwe.
Bonus points if you recognized the quote from this post's title!!
It's from C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:
"[Aslan will] be coming and going" he had said. "One day you'll see him and another you won't. He doesn't like being tied down--and of course he has other countries to attend to. It's quite all right. He'll often drop in. Only you mustn't press him. He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.”
